Dear OSCC Members & Colleagues –

As of today, there is a maximum of 42-days left in the 2025 legislative session. By Constitution, the session must adjourn by 11:59pm on Sunday, June 29^th. 

This is a big week – it marks the final week to advance policy bills out of their policy committees. All bills currently in policy committees must be voted out of committee by Friday, May 23^rd in order to stay alive. By Friday COB, all policy committees will be closed. 

The only committees that will remain open after this week are Joint Ways and Means, Joint Tax Expenditures, and Joint Transportation Reinvestment, as well as the House and Senate Rules Committees and House and Senate Revenue Committees.

Last week we saw two major developments of consequence to OSCC.

On Wednesday, the final May Revenue Forecast was released. This is important because it tells legislators exactly how much money they can budget for the upcoming 2025-2027 state budget. Alas, the forecast delivered some bad news for those looking to adopt new policies or new programs. Total projected revenues dropped by about $750 million from the previous March forecast. This was the first time in several years that we’ve seen a revenue forecast show a decline in revenue – this particular forecast was due to personal income taxes declining by about $500 million.

The legislature will now have about $37.4 billion to spend on the 2025-27 budget. This is an increase from the 2023-2025 budget, but far lower than the Governor’s Recommended Budget released in January.

Then on Thursday, OSCC received some very welcome news: the Oregon DEQ decided to suspend the Advanced Clean Trucks Rule until 2027. This is a big win for OSCC as we engaged all of our Chambers in support of this effort as early as November 2024.

Moving forward, we expect the legislature to focus the final days on balancing the budget with reduced revenues, finalizing a transportation package, and looking to address the wildfire funding needs.

With respect to the Transportation Package, conversations and negotiations are happening behind closed doors, and details are scarce. Some Republicans are in fact at the negotiating table with Democrats on this issue. It is unlikely that Democrats would be able to muster the necessary votes to support a Transportation Package, with its associated taxes, without major concessions to Republicans.

A permanent wildfire funding infrastructure is the other main conversation that legislators are having. House Bill 3940 is the bill that attempts to create a permanent and dedicated source of funding to address increased costs associated with fighting wildfires. OSCC will be engaged in this issue as it pertains to the taxes being discussed. OSCC has already opposed an amendment to the bill that would have raised the payroll tax on Oregon workers.

Given the uncertainty at the federal level and the fact that major priorities around the budget, transportation and wildfire funding have stalled, the possibility of a Special Session in September is now firmly ensconced in the capitol rumor mill. At this point, how the next 42-days unfolds is just a guess.

In terms of what’s on the calendar for this week, by far the two most consequential bills of note are:

• GENERAL CONTRACTOR / PROPERTY OWNER LIABILITY (SB 426): OSCC has written about this bill several times and OPPOSES SB 426. OSCC continues to be deeply concerned about the idea that holding property owners and general contractors liable for any unpaid wages at the subcontractor level would further dampen investment in Oregon communities. The bill directly punishes the wrong parties for wage theft at the subcontractor level and will have a chilling effect on commercial construction and improvements. 

SB 426 received a public hearing in the House Labor & Workplace Standards Committee on Wednesday, May 7^th.

Now the bill is scheduled for a committee vote as early as today.  

This is one of the bills this session that will require grassroots support from OSCC members. The comment period is now closed on the bill, so all communication will need to be directed to individual legislators – specifically all House Democrats and Republican Greg Smith (R-Heppner).

• UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS FOR STRIKING WORKERS. (Senate Bill 916)  This bill dominated the early labor policy landscape in 2025 with several public hearings and a very close vote in the Oregon Senate. It went dormant for a while but is now back for consideration in the House Committee on Labor. OSCC is opposing the bill as it stands. It would force taxpayers to foot the bill for striking public sector workers; and for the private sector, it would force thousands of small employers to subsidize labor disputes for much larger corporations. OSCC testified and submitted comments to OPPOSE this bill. OSCC is also actively lobbying the bill.

We are expecting potential amendments and a committee vote on this bill as early as this afternoon.

The potential amendments would make SB 916 mirror the law that just passed in Washington with effectively a 3-week waiting period for the strike UI benefits coupled with a maximum of 6 weeks of benefits.

Legislative calls are held weekly from 9:30-10am Friday mornings throughout session. These calls are open to chamber executives, advocacy staff, as well your Government Affairs or Board Chair.